Rescuing device



June 19, R, J, CUTR] REscUING DEVICE Filed Aug. e, 1945 FIG.

' INVENTOR ROCCO J. CUTRI i BYI ATTORNEY Patented June 19, 19512,557,079 RESCU'ING DEVICE Rocco J. Cutri, United States Navy, Milton,Mass. Application August 6, 1945, serial No. 609,302

(Granted under the act of March s, 1883, as amended April 3G, 1928; 3700. G. 757) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a rescuing device for use on shipsI and moreparticularly to a device for,

facilitating, expediting, and making safe the transfer of injuredsurvivors from the water to a ship.

Conventional linfe saving apparatus for rescuing persons from the watergenerally include a ring or snap harness secured to a line. Thesedevices are arranged for application under the arms and around the chesteither by the survivor, or by a rescuer if the survivor is in a helplesscondition. The application of these devices to the survivor oftenconsumes excessive time during an extreme emergency, and their usefrequently results in the iniction of further injuries. That is, whenburns or bone fractures have been suffered, the harness, in beingadjusted or during the hoisting operation may apply localized pres--sure on injured parts so as to chafe or tear tender tissues or to causea bone splinter to puncture a vital organ or pierce the flesh.Moreovenan injured part may be further harmed by having to sustain theweight of other portions of the body below it. Often, further injuriesare caused by impact of the body of the survivor against the side of theship while being hoisted aboard in a rough sea.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a rescuingdevice of a design and con-- struction that renders the entire rescuingoperation more direct, simple, and easy and whereby the survivor may betransported from the water in a at, recumbent position with utmostprotection against further injury regardless of the eX- tent of hisinjuries and irrespective of the motion of the ship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rescuing device which byits arrangement and construction affords maximum opportunity for selfhelp to the survivor in eifecting the rescue even though he is seriouslyinjured, and which affords maximum ease and eiiiciency of operation to arescuer in instances where the survivors condition is such as topreclude self help.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is simple in construction and operation, inexpensive tomanufacture, collapsible, and lends itself to compact and convenientstorage on a bulkhead of a ship.

With the above and other objects and features in view, the inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings whichillustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and will be pointedout in the claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the device and its attachment to ahoist or boat fall on a ship,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the oating frame and net section of thedevice and showing the bridle connections between the frame and thehoisting line,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof, certain parts being broken away forclearness, and

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional elevation taken on the line IV-IV of Fig.3 and showing the construction of the floating frame.

The device comprises an elongated frame I0 formed with parallel sides Iland semi-circular ends i2, |The frame is constructed of a core oftubular, corrosion resistant, metal i4 of one continuous piece, bent asindicated in Fig, 3. A short piece of rod l'of just suliicient diameterto fit within the meeting ends of the tube is inserted between the endsfor reenforcing the joint which is secured by welding. Semi-cylindricalsections of cork composition or other buoyant material I8 are fitted tothe opposite upper and lower sides of the tubing, completelytherearound, and are held in position by spirally wound canvas or fabrictape 26. A coating of water-proof cement is applied to the tapecompleting the fabrication of the frame.

At four points at the rounded ends I2, adjacent to where they merge withthe sides Il there are fixed to the core M as by welding, four staplesor eyes 22 that extend upwardly through suitable openings provided inthe cork I8 and fabric 20, Flexible, wire ropes 2li are spliced at theirlower ends about thimbles 26 (Fig. 4) which encircle the eyes 22. Theupper ends of these wires are brought together, thimbled, and connectedat a point centrally of the frame by a ring 28 to form a bridle. Thespace between the two wires 24 at the same side of the frame is greatenoughto allow the head and feet of a man in a dat position to clearthem when he is floated into the device. The ring 28 is connected to ahook 30 carried by the lower block 32 of a conventional boat fall 34which is suspended from a davit 36 at one side of the ship 3l. The davitand fall may be operated to launch the rescuing device and to bring it,with a survivor, to the deck of the ship in the same way that a boat ishandled.

A bottom or cradle 3S of netting of relatively fine mesh completelycovers theopening dened by the frame HJ and is suspended therefrom bylashing or other suitable means.

The buoyancy of the entire frame and net structure when the device hasbeen lowered into the water and the hoisting line 34 is slack, is suchthat the frame I0 floats substantially awash. That is, the device whilebeing buoyant enough to be self-righting, can be submerged with verylittle pressure. Thus, an injured survivor who is still capable ofself-help, can readily submerge the device and maneuver himself into it.When the survivor is injured so seriously as to be beyond self-help, therescuer, while supporting the survivor with one hand can, with his freehand, readily submerge the frame Hl angularly as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 2 and iioat the survivor in a fiat position within theframe. As downward pressure on the frame is released, either by thesurvivor or the rescuer, its immediately responsive self-righting actioncauses the survivor to be safely-contained in the cradle.

The bottom or cradle 38 of the illustrated device, owing to the slacktherein, has a hollow depression and upwardly sloping side and endportions. YEhe bottom moreover, is preferably nonbuoyant and has justsufficient slack to receive and evenly support the body of an immersedsurvivor substantially awash within the frame.

Under these conditions, the survivor will tend to float under theguidance of the sloping side and end portions of the cradle into themiddle thereoi and his head, which rests on one of the sloping endportions of the net, will be supported just above the surface of thewater.

It will now be apparent that the survivor may be placed in the net witha minimum of eort on the part of either himself or the rescuer in a fiatrecumbent position, in which the pressure of the net, when the device islifted out of the water will be as evenly distributed over the body ofthe survivor as possible.

As the device is hoisted out of the water, the survivor settles slightlyinto the cradle 33 and into a position in which his body is just belowthe level of the frame i@ and is partially wrapped laterally by theupward sloping side portions of the cradle. In this position thesurvivor is too low to be thrown over the frame i0 and yet not so low asto swing pendulum fashion against the side of the ship if the deviceshould swing against the ship. The resilience of the frame I0, as wellas the cushioning effect of its buoyant covering, also materially reduceany shock to the survivor should the device swingr against the side ofthe ship.

The outstanding operational advantages of the illustrated device resultpartly from its negligible reserve buoyancy which permits a survivor,who is so exhausted as to be incapable of raising himself ever solittle, to submerge the device and get into it. mother importantadvantage of the device results from the survivors being evenlysupported in a at position in the cradle and being protected by theframe I0 during his transfer to the deck of the ship from the water.These conditions both contribute to a speedy rescue, it

Abuoyant and resilient material, a non-buoyant meshed cradle securedalong the periphery of said frame and suspended therefrom withsufficient slack to form a hollow depression having upwardly slopingside and end portions, the comi. bined weight of said frame, coveringand cradle being slightly less` than the Weight of a. volume of seawater equal to the combined volume of said covering and cradle wherebysaid frame and,

cradle have negligible reserve buoyancy and thus adapted to be readilysubmerged upon application of slight downward pressure on said frame andself -righting upon release of said pressure, the slack in said cradlebeing suiiicient to receive and evenly support the body of an immersedsurvivor in a position where he will tend to float under the guidance ofthe sloping side and end portions of said cradle with his head supportedjust above the surface of the water on one of the sloping end portionsof said cradle, and hoisting means for lifting said frame and saidcradle fromthe Water to the ship including four eyes secured toY saidframe and so spaced along said sides to allow a survivor to pass betweenthem while in a reclining position, and four cables respectively securedat one end to said eyes and connected together at the other endcentrally of said frame to form a bridle.

ROCCO J. CUTRI.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 298,360 Bamber Sept. 24, 18781,258,762 Pacheco June 4, 1918 1,329,687 Underwood Feb. 3, 19291,902,972 Rouse Mar. 28, 1933 1,960,474 Browne May 29, 1934 2,121,052Roberts et al June 21, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,380Great Britain of 1889' 22,184 Great Britain of 1906v

